Iran's agro exports up 43.5 percent for the year, to hit $1.1B by March

Minister of Agriculture Jihad Mahmoud Hojjati
has indicated a growth of 43.5 percent in Iran's total exports of
agricultural products in the last Iranian calendar year of 1381 (ended
March 20), stressing that the exports are expected to reach as
much as 1.1 billion dollars this year, IRNA reported from Tehran.

The Persian-language newspaper 'Jomhouri-ye Eslami' on Saturday
quoted Hojjati as saying that the figure of Iran's expected exports of
agricultural products excludes export of processed foodstuff.

He further stressed that the agriculture sector has the highest
growth rate in Iran in the area of non-oil exports.

Hojjati recalled Iran's vast potential in the livestock section,
stressing that Iran's domestic industries supply almost 95 percent of
the red meat while there is a surplus of production of poultry meat.

He said that there will be an increase of 20 percent in state
purchases of wheat from farmers, adding that Iran's total production
of maize is also expected to increase by 25 percent by March 2004.

Hojjati further said that cooking oil still tops the list of
Iran's imports of agricultural products, adding that Iran meets about
90 percent of its cooking oil needs through imports.